I got the train from Hue to Danang. It was an air conditioned “soft seat” train seemingly designed with tourists in mind – although that’s not to say that it’s exclusively for tourist use… and it didn’t *totally* have tourists in mind; I’m afraid the state of the squat latrines pushed me into casual imodium use…. 🤢

But the train passes through some beautiful areas. We saw plenty of paddy fields and lotus ponds – the lotus (water lily) is grown commercially here. The flowers have significant value in temples and homes and for medicinal purposes – lotus is said to stop bleeding, and the seeds are used to treat diarrhoea; the leaves are used to make wraps for food; the stem is incredibly tough and I think Tinh said it’s used for making rope/string and so on. And the root is an ingredient for a delicious stew. I saw water buffalo, storks, and a bird I think was a coucal – black with russet brown wings.

We passed through Lo Can, which has stunning white sand beaches and oyster farms and then over the Hai Van pass; an awe inspiring mountain pass which skirts the edge of the Bach Ma National Park (which I’m sorry not to have had time to visit) and falls dramatically down to a shoreline of broken rocks and sandy coves. Even the Vietnamese passengers were exclaiming and leaning over each other to take murky window photos.

Even on the mountain side of the train, the views uphill were beautiful, when the undergrowth was clear enough to see them. We were not far below the cloud line, and there were stands of banana, ferns, many trees I’m simply not skilled enough to recognise, and the whole thing considerably choked by bindweed! It would’ve driven my father mad! He has waged a war of attrition on bindweed in every garden he’s ever been in charge of…

The train has video screens, like a plane. We’ve been treated to many adverts and Tom and Jerry – very surreal. And the announcement boards in the carriage don’t just tell you where we’re stopping, but also where we’re passing through and at what time. The seats are recliners, like lazy-boy armchairs, and each is provided with a blanket. Their only drawback is that they are plastic upholstered which I’m sure is more hygienic, but also sweatier!

Out of the park, the track is lined with houses, shops and shrines and there are little guard boxes manned with uniformed guards and a system of red and yellow flags – I guess in lieu of automatic signals. The carriage is extremely sociable. There are children playing and chatting to all the adults, and their parents hovering in semi-supervision. A French baby and a Vietnamese of around the same age are having a high old time with some plastic trains. We have established that the little Vietnamese girl is 23 months old, and old western women in blue glasses are somewhat alarming – although also fascinating!

We pulled into Danang exactly on time. It’s a remarkably efficient system!

I’d booked a car from Danang to Hoi An, with a stop at the marble mountains; a series of temples, pagodas and caves with shrines carved from the marble of five mountains overlooking the beach. The car driver dropped me at about 11:30 with instructions to be back at 12:45. The guide book said I needed four or five hours to do it justice, so I stomped off, giving some rein to my inner 17 year old.

To be fair, the driver probably did me a solid. There were steps. Lots of steps, carved into the marble. And lots of tourists. The pagodas I saw were impressive, and obviously thriving; a community of monks and nuns was very much in evidence. I scrambled up into a cave, and had to downclimb out of it, which was never my favourite kind of climbing to do – but probably still marginally more elegant (not to mention reverend) than sliding out on my arse.

So yeah. Two temples, a pagoda and a cave, and then it was time to find the driver. And now we’re off to Hoi An for the third leg of the adventure! The heat is more intense here, and there is sun. I *may* skip the sightseeing and head to the beach….